Utilization of waste organic mixtures



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An object of my invention is to providea process by which all KCl is converted into UNITED STATES g alarm rum, a

urrmza'rron or K 80 Another object is to provide a process in which the potassium content can be reduced. .Another object is the raising of the nitrogen content considerably. Another object is to liberate hydrochloric acid with another mineral acid without destroying the nitrogen content.

' her and re cover them in a 'highl pufre states; ItHs' an" essential feature of t isinvention' to select the inorganic salt to be 1 added expediently so as "to produce a precipitate composed' of salts of distinctly diiferentsolubilityflin dif-'-' separate them from each ferent solvents; and of f considerably i cut solubility from each other. f"-

Toillust'rate the practical operation of process I shall describethe' 'procedure-when'f {NH hfiO, is selected as the salt to be adg eg I The solution 0 or gifiimsidfifiremami ing after'the distillation of the alcohol may:

The fermentation liquid resulting from the f fermentation of can molas es may contain approximately 10% alcohol and approximately l0% of various organic su stances depending on the original material.

In my Patents No. 1,552,732 and No. 1,599,- 185 I have described a treatment of such fermentation liquids resulting in the recovery of the alcohol and of a concentrated solution of the other organic substances and in the liberation of hydrochloric acid by means of another mineral acid. These atents further describe a treatment of t is solution tion of at least one less soluble salt. The

bulk of the inorganic salts may be precipitated by concentration of the solution.- V The supernatant solution containing the. organic and the remainder of the inorganic substances may be separated from the precipitate. By availing myself ofthe difierence in the solubility of the salts composing the precipitate in difl'erentsolvents, I am able to;

be neutralized according to my Patntllo. 1,599,185, and need be neither 'retorted n'or freed from the organic acids. -l-- .=i f z First, the .solutionis concentrated to s'uch a gravitythat' when (NH sogfis'added' K will be partly precipitatedfiqf the; solutionfbe pro erly concentrated prior'to the addition of HQ SOQ I willnow be able, bythe mere'; addition" 'ofi-an' amount 6f 1113.30;- preferably somewhat "exceeding t e stoichiometrically required'quantity,'-to precipitate 30-35% of the K SO formedin puresta-te; Having separated the solution and precipitate by conventional means I fur-= ther'concentrate the solution until a 's' ecific gravity; of approximately L25-L35ET1$ Reached the solution 'may be cooled whereby practi cally' all the 'inorganicsalts will be-fprecip itatedi -The bulk of the'small portion remaining in solution will be (NHQ 50 it being the mostIsoluble-of the four possible salts in question. The mother liquor is sep-.: arated from the precipitate "by conventional means and is further treated according to'rny; cited patents}; Theprecipitate consisting of: K SO and NH Cl may be leachediwi th solvent, preferably alcohol of approximately ,sp 'i' e y-Nfiicl i dissolved cor'npletely. whereas the bulk of; K 80, remains undiss'olve d, separate the: solution and the residue .byfcOnYen-tional ean d Pr d to distill he solution first driving Gia ar cever nguie gayest; and then con'centram'ng the aqllous' solutiorf until approximately of its content ofaifrmonil'im 'salt is' precipitateds l separate the" ed, separating the precipitate from the solution and separating the potassium sulfate from the ammonium chloride by selective dissolution in ethyl alcohol.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

GUSTAVE T. REIGH.

K SO and recover the applied ammonium in the form of NH Cl both inorganic salts being of high purity and greater value.

While I have described in the foregoing my invention by way of example, I wish it to be understood that I do not mean to restrict the scope of my invention to the specified conditions. The invention comprises many modifications, as for instance, application of the process after retorting the original residues or before their neutralization or substitution of other suitable ammonium salts for (NH.) 80 or application of the process to other waste organic mixtures, or by treating the double decomposition product before or after retorting with a mineral acid, capable of liberating hydrochloric acid, or treating the retorted product with an ammonium salt and afterwards with the mineral acid.

I claim:

.1. Process for separating alkali metal compounds from organic matter in waste organic mixtures containing alkali metal chlorides, such as fermentation residues, which comprises adding ammonium sulfate to an aque ous solution of such residues, concentrating the solution until it has a specific gravity of 1.25-1.35 whereby alkali metal sulfate and ammonium chloride, are precipitated, separating the precipitate from the solution, and separating the alkali metal sulfate from the ammonium chloride by selective dissolution in ethyl alcohol.

2. Process for separating potassium com-- pounds from orgamc matter in waste organic mixtures containing potassium chloride, such as fermentation residues, which comprises adding ammonium sulfate to an aqueous solution of such residues, concentrating the solution until it has a specific gravity of 1.25- 1.35 whereby potassium sulfate and ammonium chloride are precipitated, separating the precipitate from the solution and separating the potassium sulfate from the am monium chloride by selective dissolution in ethyl alcohol.

3. Process for separating potassium compounds from organic matter in waste organic mixtures containing potassium chloride and sulfate, such as fermentation residues, which comprises adding ammonium sulfate to an aqueous solution of such residues, concentrating the solution until it has a specific gravity of 1.25-1.35 whereby potassium sulfate and ammonium chloride are precipitat-- 

